Tag Archives: Gematria

Spiritual Tools for Israel’s Military Might

Today we celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut, the modern State of Israel’s Independence Day, which immediately follows Yom HaZikaron, when we commemorate those who have given their lives for Israel. Each one of those lost is an indescribable tragedy. Though Israel has won the majority of its wars, the price has been devastatingly high. We know that what happens in this material world is often just a reflection of higher realities occurring in the spiritual worlds. With that in mind, what can we all do spiritually to affect the worlds above, in order to strengthen Israel militarily here below? The Torah gives us four major tools that a Jew can do that will go a long way in boosting Israel’s might and, God willing, reducing casualties in war.

The first of these tools comes from this week’s parasha, Acharei Mot, which spends many lines describing the Yom Kippur service. Commenting on one of the verses here (Leviticus 16:12), the Ba’al HaTurim (Rabbi Yakov ben Asher, 1269-1340) points out that “in the merit of the Yom Kippur service, [the Israelites] would win wars.” Although we do not have a Temple today to fulfill all of the services, nonetheless our heartfelt prayers and repentance on Yom Kippur affect a change in the Heavens that result in Israel becoming militarily stronger and victorious in war.

We see a perfect demonstration of this in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Israel was surprise-attacked by its Arab neighbours, totally unprepared and with most of its soldiers in the synagogues. The war initially went very badly, and military analysts even predicted the impending demise of Israel. Yet, things turned around quickly, and just two weeks later the war ended with a resounding victory for Israel. Henceforth, the Arabs never tried another invasion, and Egypt—the leading power in the Arab world—gave up any goals of destroying Israel, instead pursuing peace. The Arab armies thought that by attacking Israel on Yom Kippur they had a big advantage. The reality was the exact opposite! In the merit of Yom Kippur, Israel won the war and permanently altered the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East.

Six years earlier, before the similarly miraculous Six-Day War, the Lubavitcher Rebbe instituted another campaign to strengthen Israel militarily: encouraging the donning of tefillin. Ever since, Chabadnikim around the world go to street corners, supermarkets, bus stops and other public places to encourage Jewish men to wrap. Various reasons have been given for why the Rebbe chose tefillin specifically as a way to strengthen Israel. The main one is based on a passage in the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 17a). Here, the Sages discuss an End of Days prophecy in Zechariah which states a third of the population will be purified “by fire”. The Sages say these are the rebellious people who sinned with their bodies. The Talmud further defines that when it comes to the gentiles, the ones who sinned with their bodies are those who engaged in sexual sins. When it comes to Jews, however, it refers to those who never put tefillin on their bodies!

Based on this, the Rebbe saw that there is tremendous merit in donning tefillin, and puts a Jew into a wholly different spiritual category once he has done so, even just once. Moreover, since the verse in Zechariah is talking about an End of Days prophecy about the final apocalyptic war before Mashiach’s arrival, the Rebbe saw further significance to our day and age, hence the message that we should increase the observance of tefillin. Indeed, the tefillin campaign was a huge success, as was Israel’s subsequent Six-Day War, with huge implications for the coming of Mashiach, since this is when Jerusalem and the Jewish heartland of Judea and Samaria were reclaimed and liberated.

I believe there is another proof for the tefillin-military might connection: In Berakhot 57a, we read that a person who dreams of himself in tefillin should expect greatness. This is based on Deuteronomy 28:10 which reads: “And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of God is called upon you; and they shall be afraid of you.” The Sages ask: what does it mean to have the “name of God” upon you? It means putting on tefillin, since this is when God’s Name is literally wrapped upon a person’s body! And, when the gentiles see a Jew in tefillin, it inspires a sense of awe and fear among them. So, just as Deuteronomy promises, when the Jewish nation carefully and diligently dons tefillin, it will inspire fear in our enemies.

Another segulah for reducing Israel’s casualties on the frontlines and beyond is the mitzvah of charity. This one is well-known and needs little elaboration, since the Tanakh emphatically states that tzedakah tatzil mimavet, “charity saves from death” (Proverbs 10:2). As explained in detail elsewhere (see ‘How Charity Can Save Your Life’ in Garments of Light, Volume One), providing a financial contribution to a worthy cause affects a change in the Heavens that can tear up a decree hanging over a person’s soul. This is because the money one earns is tied directly to the exertion they put in to earn that money, since a person invests their time, energy, and soul into their work. The Torah tells us that giving even a half-shekel serves as kofer nefesh, an atonement for the soul (Exodus 30:12). There is a beautiful mathematical proof to this in that the words shekel (שקל) and nefesh (נפש) have the same numerical value (430)!

Finally, the Torah states that if we are worthy, “Five of you shall chase away a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase away ten thousand; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.” (Leviticus 26:8) A classic question here is regarding the ratios: five chasing away a hundred is a ratio of 1 to 20, but a hundred chasing away ten thousand is a ratio of 1 to 100! What we can learn from this is that the more Jews are united and fighting together, the stronger we become. That strength does not just grow linearly, but exponentially! The message is that we must all be united. Instead of sinat hinam, baseless hatred and enmity, we must have ahavat hinam, baseless love and unity. This is our greatest source of strength.

Putting it all together, we have four key tools to increase Israel’s military and physical might: Yom Kippur, tefillin, tzedakah, and ahava. Amazingly, if we take the initials* of these terms (י כ ת צ א), they spell out כי תצא, as in כִּֽי־תֵצֵ֥א לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה עַל־אֹיְבֶ֑יךָ וּנְתָנ֞וֹ יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ בְּיָדֶ֖ךָ, “When you go out to war against your enemies and God will deliver them into your hand…” (Deuteronomy 21:10) There is no better proof than this that if we increase our observance of these crucial mitzvot as a nation, we will undoubtedly be invincible, and God will deliver all of our enemies into our hands.

Yom Ha’Atzmaut Sameach!

*If we take only the first initials of the four mitzvot above (without the kaf of kippur), we have יתצ״א, which carries a value of 501. This is a very significant number, too. At the Pesach seder, we group the Ten Plagues by their initials and recite דצ״ך עד״ש באח״ב. The great kabbalist Rav Shimshon of Ostropoli (d. 1648) taught that the value of this phrase is 501, equivalent to an angel named תק״א that facilitated the plagues and punished the enemies of Israel. Additionally, this is reminiscent of the “Angel of God” that struck down the Assyrian camp of 185,000 soldiers to protect Jerusalem in the time of King Hezekiah (II Kings 19:35).

From the Archives: The Kabbalah of Yom Ha’Atzmaut

Secrets of Pi

This week’s conjoined Torah portions of Vayak’hel and Pekudei conclude the description of the Mishkan’s construction. The Haftarah for Pekudei is a passage from the seventh chapter of I Kings (the exact verses vary by community) describing King Solomon’s construction of the Jerusalem Temple. One of the most breathtaking structures standing in front of the Temple was the “Molten Sea”, a large bathtub for the kohanim to immerse in (as per Rashi and II Chronicles 4:6). The Tanakh describes that the bath was circular, sitting upon a base of twelve oxen statues, and had a total depth of five cubits, roughly ten feet. It held a volume of alpayim bat, “two thousand baths” of water (I Kings 7:26). In fact, the Hebrew bat (בת) is likely the etymology for the English word “bath”!

Illustration of the First Jerusalem Temple, or Solomon’s Temple, with the Molten Sea on the right.

What’s most perplexing in the description is that we are told the diameter of the circular tub was 10 cubits, yet its circumference was 30 cubits. Throughout history, many have pointed out that this seems to be an error! We all know that the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter is π or Pi, which is 3.1415926 (and so on). So, the Tanakh should have said that the diameter was 10 cubits and the circumference was 31 or 31 and a half cubits. How do we solve this puzzle, and what deeper significance does Pi hold in the Torah?

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That Purim When Rava “Killed” Rabbi Zeira

‘Two ancient Jewish sages studying and ascending to Heaven’ an image generated for me (in just seconds!) by Midjourney AI (Artificial Intelligence) software.

The Talmud famously quotes the sage Rava as teaching that one should imbibe wine on Purim ad d’lo yada, until one does not know the difference between “cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordechai” (Megillah 7b). This is a bizarre statement, because a Jew is never supposed to be so heavily under the influence. Indeed, the Talmud continues right after to tell a story of how one Purim, that same sage Rava got so drunk that he seemingly “killed” Rabbi Zeira! All was well though because, great sage that he was, Rava resurrected Rabbi Zeira back to life. The short passage ends by saying that the following year, Rava invited Rabbi Zeira to another Purim feast, and Rabbi Zeira politely declined, saying “miracles don’t happen all the time!” Nothing more is said, leaving the reader scratching his head. What really happened between Rava and Rabbi Zeira?

The simplest reading suggests that the Talmud is trying to disqualify Rava’s opinion. It was Rava who suggested that one should get really drunk, so the Talmud right after describes how Rava himself got so drunk that he ended up murdering someone. Lesson: don’t get drunk on Purim! More ironic still, it was Rava who taught, elsewhere, that one shouldn’t even look at wine, since consuming wine could lead to bloodshed! (Sanhedrin 70a) It is most likely that he only taught this after that infamous Purim incident, when he learned his lesson.

The simple solution above works, but doesn’t answer the big mysteries: why did Rava phrase his teaching that one should not know the difference between Haman and Mordechai? To not be able to differentiate at all between good and evil seems almost impossible, even when totally under the influence. Second, how could a tremendously righteous and wise rabbi like Rava kill another person? This, too, seems impossible, even if he was completely drunk. Finally, if Rava had the power to resurrect another person, why did Rabbi Zeira fear to celebrate Purim with him the following year? Surely Rava wouldn’t make the same mistake again, and even in the extremely unlikely event that he did, couldn’t Rava just revive him once more anyway? To solve these problems, we have to look deeper.

As discussed in the past (see ‘The Secret Behind Wearing Masks and Getting Drunk’ in Garments of Light, Volume Two), the real reason to drink wine on Purim is only to be able to understand Torah on a more profound level. One of the effects of alcohol is that it increases levels of (and/or acts like) the neurotransmitter GABA, an inhibitor which shuts things off in the brain. When one drinks a little bit, GABA starts to shut down processes in the outer cortex and prefrontal cortex of the brain. This includes things like motor function, decision-making, and analysis, which serves to remove various inhibitions and restraints one has, often making a person “softer”, more open and more loving, and able to see things as being more attractive. When applied to Torah, a little bit of wine can help a person notice things they never did before, or come to new realizations. Indeed, GABA is also associated with the formation of new neural connections. And, with their normal analytical mind suppressed, a person may be able to think differently than their usual modes of reasoning, opening up the possibility to chiddushim. (With too much alcohol though, GABA levels start to go up deeper and deeper into the brain, and if it gets all the way to the brain stem—which controls vital functions like breathing—it can become fatal.)

This explains why Rava would teach that drinking wine in moderation can make a person wise (Sanhedrin 70a). Our Sages similarly taught that nichnas yayin, yatza sod: when one drinks wine, “secrets come out” (Sanhedrin 38a). The traditional way to understand this statement is that a person who drinks alcohol is likely to run their mouth and reveal embarrassing secrets. On a deeper level, however, it means that a person who drinks a little bit of alcohol may be able to uncover some new Torah secrets. They may be able to see things on a more profound level. For instance, within the phrase nichnas yayin, yatza sod is a mathematical secret where the value of “wine” (יין) is 70, as is the value of “secret” (סוד). Seventy comes in and seventy comes out!

In the same way, when Rava taught that one should drink until they don’t know the difference between “cursed is Haman” (ארור המן) and “blessed is Mordechai” (ברוך מרדכי), he really meant to look beyond the surface and see that, in gematria, these two statements are exactly equal! (Both add up to 502.) Mordechai is the force of goodness that perfectly neutralized Haman’s evil. So, it’s not that Rava said a person should get smashed on Purim, he meant that a person should drink just enough to learn Torah better and uncover its secrets. With this in mind, we can understand what happened between Rava and Rabbi Zeira that fateful Purim.

Basic Gematria Chart

Ascending to Heaven

As we might expect, when two sages get together on Purim, they are not getting together simply to party. They surely used it as an opportunity to pursue a higher spiritual endeavour. Purim, like all holidays, is when spirituality is heightened and the Heavens are more accessible. What Rava sought to do, with Rabbi Zeira’s help, is nothing less than ascend to the upper worlds. There is a long tradition of a pair or group of sages getting together to accomplish such feats. Surely the most well-known is the story of the Four Who Entered Pardes:

The Sages taught: Four entered “the orchard” [pardes], and they are: Ben Azzai, and Ben Zoma, Acher, and Rabbi Akiva… Ben Azzai glimpsed and died, and with regard to him the verse states: “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His pious ones” [Psalms 116:15]. Ben Zoma glimpsed and was harmed, and with regard to him the verse states: “Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you become full from it and vomit it” [Proverbs 25:16]. Acher “cut the saplings”. Rabbi Akiva came out safely. (Chagigah 14b)

Long before Rava and Rabbi Zeira, Rabbi Akiva led a group of four to ascend to the Heavenly “orchard”. Through various Kabbalistic means, the souls of the four wise men went up to the upper worlds, and the Talmud even describes some of the incredible things they saw. It was so shocking that Acher, previously known as Rabbi Elisha ben Avuya, “cut the saplings” and became a heretic. Ben Azzai’s soul never returned, while Ben Zoma went mad. Only Rabbi Akiva survived the experience and came out whole.

In his Ben Yehoyada, the Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, 1835-1909) explains that this is precisely what happened to Rava and Rabbi Zeira! They were learning some really deep stuff and Rava was teaching Rabbi Zeira such great mystical secrets that his soul literally left his body and ascended heavenward. Rava was able to then draw Rabbi Zeira’s soul back down to this world and revive him. The Ben Ish Chai connects this to what happened at Mount Sinai, when the entire nation “died” and was “resurrected”, because God’s revelation was so intense. With this in mind, I believe we can properly understand why the Talmud uses a unique word in this passage:

Another version of ‘Two ancient Jewish sages learning Torah and ascending to Heaven’ generated by Midjourney AI

The standard Aramaic term for “killing” in the Talmud is katal (קטל). Yet here, the Talmud doesn’t use that word, but uses shecht (שחט) instead. This word is, of course, the one used in reference to the kosher slaughter of an animal, for meat consumption. So, what does it mean that Rava shechted Rabbi Zeira? We must remember that the purpose of shechitah is not to just kill the animal. Rather, shechitah is the mechanism through which the animal’s soul is able to return to Heaven. On a Kabbalistic level, it functions as a tikkun for the animal’s soul, allowing it to ascend upward. This is precisely what Rava did to Rabbi Zeira, by extracting the soul out of his body and elevating it to the upper worlds, giving him an “out-of-body” experience. I think this is the real reason the Talmud uses the term shecht!

To go back to our three starting questions: 1) Rava did not say one should be drunk out of their minds, rather he taught that one should drink a little wine in order to learn better and be able to unravel Torah secrets. 2) Rava never literally killed anyone, God forbid, but simply elevated the soul of Rabbi Zeira through the depth and breadth of his Torah teachings. 3) Rabbi Zeira did not wish to have another “out-of-body” experience with Rava the following year simply because he knew how perilous such a journey might be. After all, Ben Azzai’s soul was so happy up there that he never returned to Earth. So, it’s not so much that Rava wouldn’t be able to revive Rabbi Zeira again, but that Rabbi Zeira worried he might not wish to return!

It must be mentioned here that there is an alternate way to read the Talmud’s concluding words in this passage. Since the Talmud does not identify who the “he” is, some people read it to mean that it was Rabbi Zeira who asked for another Purim party with Rava—having had such an awesome experience the previous year—and it was Rava who declined, since he was not sure if he could revive Rabbi Zeira again! Whatever the case, we must remember that a Jew need not resort to chemical substances for spiritual elevation; Torah study itself can be far more potent.

Chag Sameach!